


Love by Candlelight

by LaEnchanteRose



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Abuse, Beginning a July challenge in August, Drabble, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I just can't get enough of these two!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Lovers, Lumiere and Plumette, Lumiette - Freeform, More tags to come!, Period-Typical Racism, Plumiere, They're too frickin' adorable!, Wishes, Yeah I'm weird like that!, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-12 08:19:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11733201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaEnchanteRose/pseuds/LaEnchanteRose
Summary: A series of Lumiette oneshots inspired by @SuperWolfieStar's July challenge. Yeah, I know, it's already August- and the rest won't be posted until at least September, because I'm going on vacation for the rest of the month. But I really wanted to do these (well, some of them anyway. As with my last Prompt challenge, I will be picking and choosing from the list rather than doing the whole thing)...and the world can ALWAYS use more of this super adorable couple! :)





	1. Innocence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lumière watches Plumette sleep. A sequel to "Tears" from my other prompt challenge (Curses, Candles and Feather Dusters).

Lumière wasn’t sure what had woken him. But he couldn’t exactly say he minded. There was something deeply peaceful about lying there in the quiet stillness of the night, alone with his thoughts. Perhaps- Wait. What was that? He had just heard a soft but distinctive whimpering coming from beside him. Then a leg brushed up against his and he jumped in fright- nearly falling out of his bed!

 _Sacré bleu! Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked Garderobe and Cadenza to pick up that Italian vintage on their last visit home!_ The Frenchman rolled over to find out who his unexpected midnight guest was (if it was Cogsworth, he was NEVER going to let him hear the end of it!). The instant he did, his heart gave a little leap.

 _Plumette! Ma Plumette!_ For one brief moment, he was overjoyed to see her. Then he caught sight of the bruise marring her beautiful left cheek- and his stomach turned as he suddenly remembered the awful reason she had come to share his bed with him that night. The events of the day flashed through his mind in rapid succession, one after the other.

How he had discovered his girlfriend weeping in their special garden. How she had at first pushed him away, then changed her mind and turned her face to him, revealing the nasty mark. And then his correct guess as to how she had received it: While dusting in the west wing, she had accidentally knocked over Adam’s mother’s special vase. This had infuriated the Prince- and in his rage he had lashed out, striking the maid. He had also yelled at her and called her names.

Stupid, clumsy and worthless were the ones that Plumette had divulged to Lumière. But the Frenchman strongly suspected that there had been other, far worse ones. For over dinner (which they had eaten together in his quarters- Plumette having been in no shape to face their fellow staff), his chérie had revealed what le bête (the only title Adam was deserving of at the moment, as far as the maître d' was concerned!) had curtly informed her just before she’d fled his chambers- she should consider herself lucky to be allowed to work for him at all. Most royalty wouldn’t even allow her “sort” to set foot in their castles!

 _How DARE he treat her like that! How DARE he!_ Even now it was enough to make Lumière’s blood boil. Propping himself up on his elbow, he regarded his beloved’s still form. Her chocolat skin was even lovelier than usual tonight, bathed in the soft glow of the full moon. “How could ANYONE mock such beauty? I cannot understand it!” the maître d' murmured. Plumette stirred, and for a moment he feared that he’d woken her. But she merely sighed and turned over onto her side- giving him an even clearer view of her face.

The moon’s silvery light made her look even younger than her scant twenty years (it had been only a few weeks ago that she had celebrated her birthday!). She looked so sweet, so vulnerable, so innocent and pure that her boyfriend was unable to stop a few tears from slipping out. “Ma ange, ma parfait ange,” the Frenchman whispered, running a hand through the maid’s soft black curls. As he trailed it along, the back of it brushed up against the top part of her cheek, just below her eye. And that was when Lumière noticed something that broke his heart.

 _Mon dieu! She has been crying in her sleep! That is why she was whimpering before._ Wishing that he could strangle le bête, he gently kissed his darling’s tears away. “Ma belle colombe, I promise he will not hurt you again- because I will not let him!” he cooed softly, curling his body protectively around hers before at last closing his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now that I'm done ripping your heart out (seriously, this is probably the most angst-ridden thing I've ever written- or at least a close second to the "Tears" ficlett that this is a direct sequel to!)....
> 
> "Ma belle colombe" means "My beautiful dove" in French (for obvious reasons, Lumière had to drop the "belle" part of that particular pet name after the curse!).
> 
> And yeah, I know it's hard to imagine Lumière strangling anyone. And normally he wouldn't even consider it (at least not seriously!). But when someone dares to mess with Plumette.....


	2. Make a Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While cursed, Lumiere and Plumette ponder their fates. More of a drabble than an actual ficlett.

It is nighttime at Chateau de Villeneuve (though one would scarcely know that- night and day have looked virtually the same here for nearly a decade) and its residents are preparing for slumber- or at least most of them are. The curse has made them furniture, knick knacks, antiques- and yet the scene that is unfolding is surprisingly ordinary.

If one were to take a look around the grand estate, one would see a mother tucking her son into bed. Two friends- one a chef, the other a valet- exchanging goodnights. An Italian maestro playing a tender tune for his beloved- despite the fact that he is all alone in the grand (or rather, FORMERLY grand!) ballroom.

One of the most celebrated divas in all of Europe snoozing in a luxurious upstairs chamber, dreaming not of fame or riches but of the one she loves above all else and has been cruelly forced to live without for nearly ten years- her dear husband (at times she swears she can even still hear him playing for her, even though she knows that is impossible). An elderly majordomo finishing his rounds and settling down to rest, confident that everything is- at least for the moment- in order. And finally, out on a quiet balcony, a pair of lovers dancing in the moonlight.

This has become their nightly ritual, though doing it on the balcony is a rarity (usually it is too stormy to do so). They yearn to do more- but their bodies will not allow it. In a cruel twist of irony, he is metal and flame while she is highly flammable feathers and ivory. Not to mention that she has the added disadvantage of having a beak for a mouth- which tends to make puckering up a bit awkward!

So they waltz, trying to ignore the pain within. At first, they stop from time to time to take in their surroundings. But everything they see only reminds them of what they have lost; picnics in the gardens, swimming in the lake in summer and skating on it in winter (sometimes as a date, other times a party with their fellow staff), walks in the woods…they cannot bare it any longer. By mutual, unspoken agreement, they stop looking outward.

Instead, they look INward, to the one place they can still find happiness and comfort- each other’s eyes. _What hope do we have of ever being human again? Who could possibly ever love a Beast?_ Her painted-on orbs say. Though his peepers are metal, she swears she can see them twinkling in response. _The heart works in mysterious ways, chérie. I have no doubt that one day she will come. Until then, we must be strong,_ they reply. Her eyes peer so intensely into his that it is as if she is looking into his very soul. _How can I be strong when you make me so weak?_ They tell him.

And then there is but one thing left to do before bed. Together, they look to the stars…and make a wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering where the fluff that I promised in the tags is (I seem to have a thing for angst lately, don't I?!), I've got good news: things are going to get a lot lighter starting next ficlett (and it WILL be a full-on ficlett, not just a drabble). Get ready for some humor, fluff- and maybe even a little naughtiness! ;)


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